OCR Community Must Lead the Fight Against Trolls

In a sport marked by overwhelming positivity, there is a disturbing growing trend toward negativity and destruction on OCR social media outlets. I am frustrated by this shift, and the issue hit home when trolls attacked a teammate and all-around badass of a lady recently.

As we may [or may not] know, upon signing up for a social media account we willingly agree that the things we post on are subject to repost without context. In this case, the crew at Tough Mudder HQ reposted a photo on their Facebook page with the innocent and positive message of “Grip Strength Goals.” The picture illustrated a remarkable testament to hard work, as the subject of the photo demonstrated superior grip strength and core stability. The post originated as a positive message of power from Tough Mudder Headquarters, got ugly when follower comments degraded from inspiration to bitter resentment and name calling. It began with comments claiming the photo had been altered. Criticism soon grew hateful when she was body shamed for the picture.

Comments like these break the very heart of the sport that is marked by overwhelming positivity and support.

Shortly after things turned negative, several teammates, friends, and members of the OCR community came to the woman’s defense. I wanted to give this athlete a name and voice on the issue, so I reached out to the subject, Michele Gorham, for comments on the issue. Here’s what she said—

“I think the most fascinating thing for me that transpired from TM’s Facebook post is that I had no idea how wide my circle is. Within an hour of letting my Social Misfits co-founder, Nick Vitale, know that dozens of negative comments were left about me/my photo on the TM post, there were dozens of positive rebuttals. Within the day there were hundreds. Even TM themselves reached out to me privately. It’s a very overwhelming feeling to receive such support.”

And just because this is the kind of person she is, Michele responded to the skeptics and trolls, posting a current video performing the one-handed hanging lotus pose that inspired the original—foot in a medical boot and all. Though she’s known to sport a significantly different hand gesture to photographers on course, she opted to throw the haters a solid thumbs up. (Charity, I’m officially nominating Michele for your next Badass Women of OCR feature!)

Check that class act response to haters.

While ultimately negativity in this situation was shut down by amassing positive and supportive comments, it still illustrates how unwarranted destructive remarks are infiltrating our world of rainbows and mud. As Michele put it in our conversation, and I wholeheartedly agree, it just takes one person to create an adverse snowball effect that gives rise to other trolls. Why defer to a destructive cheap shot?

Let’s consider this isolated situation and what it means to OCR as a whole. I discussed the topic with Michele and other teammates, and I found that all our discussions hovered around a central theme: what happens to those competitors—or potential competitors hesitant to give OCR a try–without an existing support system like the one that came to Michele’s defense?

What happens when our community becomes the greatest barrier to entry?

The accessibility of this sport to all abilities and levels of fitness combined with the supportive community is precisely what makes OCR so unique. After all, how many of us claim our first race as a life-changing experience? I certainly can. Not only did my exercise routine transform into meaningful training, at 30-years-old I finally found “my thing.” Two years later, I’m an ACSM certified personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, undergraduate in the field of exercise science and OCR competitor; I know this sport has the greatest chance at making an impact in reversing America’s obesity epidemic by encouraging fun (and functional) physical activity. Juxtapose this with the increase of the negativity along with a recent shift in media tone to sensationalism, I’m frustrated—and you should be, too. If the OCR community turns hostile that unique accessibility is lost. We stand no chance of growing, let alone legitimizing, the sport if our community and its leaders turn to cheap shots and malicious comments just to get a rise out of strangers on social media.

Shutting down the trolls starts with each one of you. Bullying is a real challenge we now face and must tackle as a unified community. We cannot allow overt nastiness and negativity to pervade our little slice of optimism that we devote countless precious hours. I encourage every racer I meet to join a supportive community, be it a local running club or a social media-based club like Team Social Misfits.

Remember that OCR is something we willingly do for fun. We are proud weirdos, warriors, and oddballs that delight together in trudging through mud, ripping our hands to pieces, and celebrating clusters of bruises over a lukewarm brew. Let’s lift each other up. Tear down barriers, not each other.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and official policies of Mud Run Guide LLC, or their staff. The comments posted on this Website are solely the opinions of the posters.

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Hillary J. Greene is an ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist and earned her Bachelor of Science in the Exercise Science program at Western Kentucky University in spring 2019. She works toward building everyday warriors as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at D1 Sports,. She is a DGearOG sponsored athlete and a member of the Social Misfits team, a group of ass-kicking OCR enthusiasts. You can follow Hillary's journey training for OCR and the apocalypse under the handle @NerdRageFit on Instagram.

15 Comments

Spot on ma’m. You wrote a great piece here that absolutely hits the nail on the head. We are going to be responsible what the future of OCR culture looks like. There will always be negative turd bags in every social circle, but we can do a lot by individually taking responsibility to shut it down and lift others up.

Thanks so much! I think our community is primed to be a leader in the fight against bullying, both cyber and real time. There’s enough negativity elsewhere so keep those trolls out of my little OCR bubble!

Amazing write up Hillary! This is such tough issue because we’re talking about adults participating with the type of bullying only associated with teens. Perhaps a more vigorous approach in moderating comments can be implemented as well as warning/banning those who violate social media rules of engagement.

Why even let it bother you, no offense but why get hung up over something some idiot/s say/s by acknowledging them you give them a reason to continue. My advice is to just avoid it as best you can and/or use that negativity as your driving force.

Bullying will never end even the nicest people have an asshole day, thats life grab a beer do some squats and move on.

Probably didn’t convey my thoughts properly, I hope at least some of you get at what im trying to say.

I understand what you’re saying and can appreciate the encouragement to re-frame the issue to use it as a driving force. And you are right–some people do have an asshole day. I’m just hopeful that the community will remain overwhelmingly positive despite those days.

Awesome! I know Michele through social media and the Misfits team. You really hit so many key points to this disturbing situation. One would think that this type of behavior would not have to be addressed. Unfortunate that Michele, who is so awesome, had to go through this. Thank you for putting this very important message out there.

That was a badass pic! What some people fail to recognize with some of these “negative” posts is that some people are just joking and trying to be funny. I seriously doubt that every neative post on anti-social media is intended to be hurtfull. Anyways, I enjoyed the article and Michele Gorham is a badass!!!!

Right, and I love a good joke. Just picking out the tone of some comments is tough, so it ultimately falls on the “victim” to interpret the message. Michele responded so eloquently both with her video and comments, too, so taking it in stride is part of the battle as well. Thanks for reading!

This seems a little “outrage-culturey” to me. I went back to the post, and from what I saw, nobody was trolling or body shaming, just expressing a little Internet-era skepticism. Maybe what we need above all else is to relax a little, take things with a grain of salt, and stop getting offended by every little comment that COULD be construed as negative? It’s not all unicorns and rainbows out there, reasonable skin thickness (which was admirably demonstrated by Michele actually) is an important attribute.

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Welcome to Mud Run Guide - the worldwide leader in mud runs, obstacle course races, and outdoor running adventures. Established in 2012, our focus is to provide you with the best events, discounts, news, reviews, gear, and training for the sport of OCR.